Chapter 127

The Scars of War: A Lesson from a Legend

Jiraiya monitored the glade with a stony countenance. The Sound shinobi he spared were fleeing through the trees like squirrels caught in the sight of a hawk, tails tucked between their legs, wounded comrades on their backs, hightailing it straight for the Sound Village he'd bet.

He could almost smell their fear.

They hadn't known he was in charge of the Leaf youngsters. That much was clear by their frightened and bewildered reactions to his appearance, which meant they hadn't been watching him and his team for long.

Furthermore, by his observations of the battlefield, they hastily prepared this ambush for inexperienced children. Quite the arrogant mistake these adults made. To underestimate an enemy shinobi on age alone, they were paying the steep price for it now.

When he was certain the enemy shinobi had departed entirely, Jiraiya turned away from the glade to gather the three Sound shinobi presently crushed beneath the bloated belly of his toad.

The trio were squirming, groaning, gasping with eyes not all that dissimilar from a swollen toad when he approached. They clawed at the ground, trying in futility to crawl free. They scratched and pushed at the body of the toad to no avail. The amphibian croaked. Blinked. Then scratched the bottom of its chin, expression blank, as if unsure what was responsible for the itch beneath his belly.

Jiraiya grinned. Anyone who said the Toads of Mount Myōboku didn't have a sense of humor clearly didn't know them well enough.

Finally, after summoning the Toad Gourd Prison, he stored the trio of unfortunates away for interrogation. They wouldn't find an escape inside, or mercy when he entered. He had…special tricks to acquire information, tricks few could withstand. Tricks that gave even him shivers.

Jiraiya pat his toad companion on the head and let him return to Mount Myōboku.

He suspected the scents and tracks the shinobi left behind would lead them straight to the Sound Village. The Sound shinobi were too frightened of his pursuit to erase their tracks, and so, in their fear of certain death, they would leave a trail even an inexperienced tracker could follow. As was his intention.

However, what he wanted more than a trail to follow was information. Specifically information regarding his former comrade's base of operations and enemy numbers. He didn't want to infiltrate the Sound Village blindly. If he could get a layout of their base, a troop count, they would gain an advantage. A small one, perhaps. But against Orochimaru, in his experience as a comrade and an enemy of the man, that was the best you could hope for.

Recent events proved their enemies had larger numbers at their disposal.

Disposal being the operative word.

Jiraiya briefly observed the battlefield. Smoke hung in the air. The scent of burning leaves and grass carried on the breeze, and somewhere beneath it he could smell the familiar stench of death. Burned bodies. Gore.

To think this had once been a peaceful spot. Quiet, undisturbed.

Now it was the sight of carnage. On one side, bodies of enemy shinobi lay in the forest, burned by his Fire Style Jutsu, slain by explosives, ninja tools and crushed by trees his young subordinates turned into traps.

On the other, a devastating and gluttonous pit swallowing the once abandoned and intact temple, now fractured, splintered; the wooden supports creaked and groaned, visibly on the verge of snapping like dry twigs, and the roof appeared to be modeled after a checkerboard.

A single kunoichi was injured, mildly. A few cuts and punctures from ninja tools, attained in a heroic effort to save the child previously taken hostage. Otherwise, no casualties. No severe or life threatening injuries.

They did good.

This was a devastating defeat for their enemy. They had lost all but a handful of the shinobi mobilized for their mission, they lost their hostages, and they had nothing to show for it. Nothing at all. Just more pointless death and conflict in the name of their leader.

You never understood the Old Man's teachings, Jiraiya thought. And I don't think you ever will. These shinobi, you just see them as people you can use, or who acquired your fickle attention. But they ultimately mean nothing to you. They're just disposable tools. Pawns. Like a child bored of an old toy, they no longer interest you so you throw them aside without a care.

Jiraiya looked to his young subordinates at the top of the craggy cliffside. Mimi had Sakura seated on the ground while tending to her wounds with Medical Ninjutsu, staunching the bleeding and alleviating the pain so they could move unhindered, no doubt. Naruto was checking on the young girl with orange hair, who's face was bloodied but seemed to have stopped bleeding. The young man, Daisuke, knelt nearby with the rescued hostages.

I once thought there was something I could do about the darkness and hatred in your heart, Orochimaru. Maybe there was a time I could have. Or maybe I'm an arrogant and naïve fool for thinking I could ever bring you, my comrade and friend, back to the Leaf, or that I ever truly understood you and what you were feeling inside.

However, I won't make the same mistake I made back then. I can't change you, but I can protect this new generation. I can protect and nurture their future.

Jiraiya moved to regroup with his squad.

Daylight was all but burned up. The veins of gold in the airbrushed sky were almost picked clean, the streaks of lavenders farthest from the sun shifted and melded into dusky blue. Ribbons of smoke rose from the earth, drawing a transparent grey veil across the sky. The chill in the air was growing more bitter by the hour.

For now the conflict had paused. But it did not end.

Their battle against the Sound Village was far from over.

"How's your leg feeling now?" asked Mimi, kneeling beside Sakura while wrapping bandages around her injured thigh.

Sakura nodded once. "Better," she admitted. "As long as I'm careful I should be able to move without slowing us down."

"You don't need to worry about that. After the ass kicking we just gave those shinobi, I don't see those idiots attempting a night ambush. They were barely prepared for the last one. Walked right into our traps and your double-genjutsu like amateurs, and they lost their hostages and the majority of their squad in the process. Fine work all around. Once we move our position we can rest for the night."

"Yeah, but…" Sakura lowered her eyes to her injured leg. "If we wait and rest, won't we allow them to prepare defenses and traps? Worse, they may tell Orochimaru we're here." She shook her head softly. "I don't see him putting off by a night ambush. If we attack them now…"

They lost the element of surprise, but they gained a new advantage in its place. The enemy was wounded and disoriented—scared. The opportunity was ripe for them to sweep in and eliminate their targets. Before the enemy could dig-in and fortify their position.

"Their Village will already be prepared for an attack," countered Mimi calmly. "Orochimaru wouldn't waste all of his years of experience and knowledge of Leaf tactics; he'll be ready and waiting for us regardless of what we do tonight. Isn't a fun thought, I know. But it's the reality. Also, if we push ahead now, we'll be fighting in the darkness. That'll put you and Naruto at a dangerous disadvantage if we're outnumbered again.

"We saw firsthand in the Forest of Death what happened to shinobi who rushed ahead. They ended up tangled up in ninja wire, hung from trees, turned into acupuncture dolls by kunai and shuriken. We, on the other hand, heeded caution and patience. Because of that we were able to recover our strength and counter an ambush to reach our end goal. The same applies here."

Mimi tied off the bandage. Not too loose and not too tight, it fit snug around her thigh.

"Trust me, I know how you feel," she said. "I don't like the idea of waiting for them to strike us again. But I have to look at Emi, and I may need to send a Shadow Clone back into town if those guys injured Manzo or the other children. I also want to heal you back to one hundred percent before we press ahead. Can't have you sitting out or nursing an injury, after all. We need all of our fighting strength for this mission.

"For me to push ahead after all of that, to rush into a battle against who-knows-how many guards plus Kasai… I'll need to rely on a Food Pill. Maybe two or more if any of us get injured."

She looked down at her hands, lips flattening in a frown. They weren't trembling. Yet Sakura wondered if, to her mind, they were.

"Last time I pushed myself out of necessity," she explained after a brief pause. "I consumed too many Food Pills because the boys—everyone, really—needed me to. There was no chance to stop and rest. No respite. And I ended up a mess internally because of it.

"If you or Naruto or Aoko end up in serious condition like Amari and Atsuko, I can't be in that condition again. There's a span of time where my memory is unreliable. Gaps of just…nothing. Where time just blends together. But I never lost consciousness. Everyone says I was awake healing Amari the whole way back, talking the entire time to myself, Aoko and Hikari. But I can't remember most of it.

"That's too dangerous," the Inuzuka said with a shake of her head. "I could've made any number of mistakes while healing Amari. I could've made her condition worse, and I wouldn't have even realized I had done it. I wouldn't even know what I did."

Sighing, Mimi rose to her feet. "I want to push ahead. I want to eliminate Kasai and relieve Amari of this burden. I want that the same as you and Naruto. But my weakness will put your lives in danger. As a squad leader and a medic I can't afford to act or make decisions on reckless emotion. I can't do what my Shadow Clone did and go berserk. No matter how justified or righteous it may be. I have to look after you guys and do everything I can to bring you all home. That's my duty.

"So don't worry. Don't mope. Your injury isn't slowing us down. Get that thought out of your head or I'll beat it out myself." Mimi placed her hand on her hip. "With it or without it we would rest for the night. All right?"

"Right," Sakura conceded, nodding.

Truth be told, she was worried about slowing the team down with her injury. Or, worse, being sidelined for the rest of the mission because of it. She appreciated Mimi's reassurance, and her insight as a squad leader.

I was so focused on not wanting to slow the team down I didn't consider how hard Mimi has been pushing herself, she thought. Or what she experienced on our last mission and the lessons she learned from it. Mimi is looking at the whole picture and all the moving pieces, not just what she's feeling inside.

It was another lesson to learn for the future. Another chance to see why Amari, Shikamaru and Mimi were promoted to Chūnin, and how far she had to go to follow them.

Naruto and Sasame joined the two kunoichi, the orange-haired girl of the pair bearing a sad expression on her bloody face. She bowed her head suddenly.

"I'm sorry!" Sasame apologized.

"Sorry?" Sakura tilted her head to the side. "For what?"

"For all of this trouble I've caused you. It's because of me you were hurt. If I hadn't led them to you, none of this would've happened. They wouldn't have taken hostages and I wouldn't have fallen and lost hold of Scotch. You wouldn't have—"

"Ughhh, enough of this," Mimi groaned.

The Inuzuka marched over to Sasame, who had raised her head in genuine confusion, and clapped her hands on both sides of the Fūma kunoichi's face, squishing it together, pinching her cheeks and forcing her head side to side at times.

"Listen, if I wanted to deal with melodramatic moping I would spend my waking hours around Neji Hyūga."

"I don't know who that is," Sasame murmured while her face and lips were squished together.

"Lucky you. You'll never have to hear one of his old speeches about destiny. Oh, what a tragedy it was. Destiny this and destiny that. Prick couldn't help but fill our ears with that nonsense."

"What are you doing? Eep! Why do you keep pinching my face?"

"Because if I hit you over the head I would feel like I kicked a starving, sad puppy abandoned on the street."

"Oh…"

"I'm squad leader here so I make the rules, and as of now there is a no moping policy. So stop looking at me with that sad expression. Don't make me force a smile onto your face. I'll do it."

True to her word, Mimi gently tugged the corner of her lips into a smile. Then a frown. Then a smile again. Naruto snickered at Sasame's expense. Sakura hid her giggle behind her hand. Eventually even the Fūma kunoichi let out a giggle, a light blush on her cheeks beneath the crimson mask.

"Stop," she giggled.

"You gonna stop moping?"

"I just wanted to apologize…"

"Save it." Mimi squished her face together. "Sakura's made of tough stuff. And accidents happen. Any one of us could have slipped on those tiles. Hell, we all almost did."

"But I led them— Eep!"

"And you helped us fight them off. You could've hid the truth from us, could've sat it out and still tried to betray us. But you didn't. You helped. If anyone is to blame for the hostages, it's me. I'm the one who went to Manzo's bar in search of information. I left them there alone without thinking the enemy would take hostages. That was my idiotic blunder."

The Inuzuka rolled Sasame's head around, visibly making the girl dizzy. "We survived an ambush and rescued Scotch and Emi. That's what matters. And kicked those bastards asses so badly they ran home squealing like schoolgirls seeing a cockroach. So no more moping, got it?"

"I- I think so?"

"Good." Mimi placed her hands below Sasame's jaw and began scrutinizing her injury. "Now let's see what I can do about this. Hmm. Smashed your face pretty well on those tiles. Contusions and swelling around the wound. Still leaking blood, but nothing like the waterfall pouring down your face before. You didn't fracture any bones, luckily."

"How do you know?"

"Besides being a trained medic-nin who's seen plenty of broken bones? And having the ultimate tag team partner who is capable of sensing bodily damage?"

Aoko barked proudly. Sasame blinked.

"Besides all of that, I can do this…" Mimi squished her cheeks together again. "And you don't scream in agony."

"Oh," murmured Sasame with difficulty, lips puckered and vision slightly obstructed by the action.

"Anyway," the medic-nin released her face, "healing it shouldn't be a problem. Shouldn't scar, either. But I'll need to wash your face. Can't have you walking around painted in blood. What would your cousin think when we found him?"

After cleaning off Sasame's face, healing the wound and covering it with a bandage, Mimi moved over to check on Emi's condition.

Sasame watched her go. Her gratitude was stuck on the tip of her tongue but failed to find a voice due to the Inuzuka's abrupt withdrawal. She shyly clutched a fist in front of her chest.

Naruto offered a hand to Sakura. Grateful, the kunoichi took the outstretched hand and rose. Then she started to shift on her feet, testing out various distributions of her weight to see what her body could manage in this state of partial recovery and what it couldn't.

"Helping a pretty girl stand after a battle unprompted?" Master Jiraiya teased as he landed on the overlook, joining them. "Whoever his master is must be a real gentleman. A respectable man known for his charitable and gracious spirit. I bet he's beyond handsome, too. A charmer who sweeps ladies off their feet, and who men aspire to be! A—"

"A nosy old pervert who has to pay other women to pay attention to him," Naruto interrupted, crossing his arms.

"Geh!" Jiraiya sounded like he'd had the wind knocked out of him. But it lasted only a moment. In an instant he was leaning over Naruto with eyes white with rage. "Watch it! What kind of opinion will Sakura and Mimi form of me if you keep saying things like that?"

"That train left the station a long time ago," Sakura waved her hand through the air dismissively. "I've seen enough on this mission to know what you're up to."

"I call you Master Pervert for a reason," Mimi called, having heard it all. "I respect your abilities as a shinobi and your contributions to the Leaf throughout the years. Also for kicking those Sound shinobis asses. But you won't find any hero worship here. Right, Aoko?"

Aoko barked in agreement.

"Oh…" Jiraiya slumped comically in depression. "Well, I'm…sorry to hear that," he sighed sorrowfully. He stood up straight after a moment and looked at Sasame. He tilted his head, curious. Sasame blinked, unsure of what to make of the man.

"So, Naruto," the Toad Sage began, taking a step towards her, "I have an idea of who that young man is, but who's this little lady I don't know?"

Sakura shimmied between the pair, spreading her arms out protectively in front of the girl.

"Okay, that's close enough. I don't want you getting any closer to Sasame."

"Huh? What do you…" Jiraiya cut himself off, recoiling in horror at what she was insinuating. Horror turned to indignant rage. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! What kind of man do you take me for? She's far too young! You kids are little more than babies to me! You may insult my research, I can withstand that, but I will not stand for anyone insinuating I would perform such a heinous deed," he said seriously.

Surprised by his serious demeanor, Sakura could only lower her arms and nod slightly. Behind her, Sasame watched on in silent bewilderment.

"Now then, you said her name was Sasame, right?"

"That's right. She's a member of the Fūma Clan."

"I'm aware. I was actually hoping we would run into her."

"Huh? What do you mean, Pervy Sage? Why were you hoping we'd run into Sasame? How do you even know about her?"

"After we went our separate ways I began investigating the outpost for signs of Orochimaru. I encountered a man named Hanzaki and the remnants of the Fūma Clan; they tried to rob me, quite the crafty set up, too. After I tamed their spirits he was willing to tell me all about the Fūma Clan's struggles caused by the hopeless wars, and then how Orochimaru capitalized on it. He told me a great deal about what Orochimaru has been doing in this Land. The pain he has caused. Then asked me to keep an eye out for Sasame, worried she would get caught up in one of Orochimaru's schemes and taken down the wrong path in her effort to save her cousin Arashi."

Sasame lowered her eyes.

Jiraiya smiled at the group. "Though it seems you kids found her before that could happen. And you managed to deal the enemy a serious blow along the way. I'm sorry I wasn't here until the very end, though it seems you had it all under control. Good work repelling their ambush and saving the hostages. That'll give us time to plan and prepare our infiltration into Orochimaru's den, and time for you kids to rest up and gather your strength."

"Right," Sakura nodded.

"We'll be ready, Pervy Sage. Don't you worry about that!"

"In the meantime, we need to return the children home," Jiraiya said, looking to Emi and Scotch.

At his decision, Mimi shook her head gently, hands over Emi's chest with a hue of green.

"Not yet. Those bastards were rough with her. They pushed her around, forced her to crawl instead of carrying her. They choked her with that rope collar and leash they put on her." Again she shook her head. "She's completely unresponsive."

Sakura felt her heart tighten in her chest. Fear for the girl, helpless because she couldn't use Medical Ninjutsu the way Mimi could yet. Sasame, she noticed, looked utterly distraught. So did Daisuke, who had Scotch's fingers curling into his poncho.

Jiraiya frowned, humming lowly. "Mm. I see."

"What can we do to help?" Naruto was the one to ask first, desperate to do something.

"Find a place for us to make camp close by; we can't move her far. Her body can't handle it in her current condition." She created a Shadow Clone, who promptly tore off without a word back in the direction of town. "She'll take care of Manzo at the bar," Mimi said to Daisuke. "When you find a place to camp, get a fire going before the sun falls below the horizon. Hopefully I can get her to come around to eat and drink something. The rest is up to me. And her."

"Okay," Jiraiya nodded. "Leave it to us."

Mimi's Shadow Clone arrived at Manzo's bar without delay. Entering through the broken window on the second floor, she cast her apprehensive eyes across the disheveled sleeping bags and the remaining signs of the skirmish Daisuke mentioned. Shattered glass peppered the children's sleeping bags, endangering the kids who would soon return to them for sleep; the wall opposite of the window was damaged, cracked where Kamikiri's pincer blades nearly lopped Daisuke's head off and where his body was slammed by Jigumo; sleeping bags were thrown about.

The medic-nin exited the room and crossed through the hall to the main living space, stopping silently beside the open door, pressing her back against the wall as she caught the scent and voices of strangers from within the room. She sniffed out the scents of the children and Manzo, listened to their quiet voices and soft footfalls to assess the situation at hand, mapping the room and its occupants locations within through a combination of her enhanced senses and memory of the rooms layout.

There were two strangers. Only two. They were gathered by Manzo, and…

Mimi entered the room, rapping her knuckles lightly on the doorframe to announce herself. The noise set the entire room on edge, though it broke with a stunned and happy cry from Biscuit.

"It's Miss Mimi!"

His cry was accented by a wince, the result of the fresh contusion Kamikiri left on the poor boy's face. It didn't stop him or the a handful of the other children from crowding around her, specifically the boys named Bourbon and Clay and the girls named Sundae and Hydra, short for Hydrangea.

They asked her a whirlwind of questions, speaking over each other. Was she here to help? Where were Daisuke, Emi and Scotch? Were they okay? What about her puppy and Naruto and Sakura? Did they beat up the scary man who hurt Manzo and Biscuit?

Mimi took a moment to assuage their fears and concerns. She started by informing them of the conditions of all those they asked about, then how the scary man and his cronies were sent running after they rescued Scotch and Emi from their grasps.

After she explained how Daisuke wanted to come straight back home with the two girls, but due to the intensity of the experience her original needed to watch over Emi for the night.

"They'll be home tomorrow morning, though," she reassured. "After I learned what happened here I sent, well, me," she gestured to herself, "to help Manzo. Seems there's an extra patient."

She stepped closer to Biscuit, bringing a green glowing palm to his injury. The injury wasn't serious. She'd seen worse training with her team, which made it all the easier to fix up.

"And… That should make it all better."

"Thank you again, Miss Mimi."

"Heh," she grinned. "Pure and polite. Stay that way and you'll attract a nice girl someday."

His face scrunched. "But girls have cooties."

The kunoichi chuckled and lightly tapped her fist on the top of his head. "Not nearly as many as boys have. Boys are infested with cooties."

"No we're not!" he defended.

"Of course you are. I'm a medic, I would know. I can see all your little cooties," she said, grinning at the kid, unaware of the realization to flash in Hydra's eyes. Or the sadistic expression morphing onto her face at the new game she had found.

Moving through the little crowd towards Manzo, she paused once to look over her shoulder with her grin.

"Also, careful where you say that."

"How come?"

"Oh, Biscuit!" cooed Hydra sadistically. The girl put on a sweet expression that betrayed her tone. "Give me a hug!"

"Wha- what? Where is this coming from?

"Hug!"

"But you never hug anyone."

"I want to hug you! Spread your cooties with me!"

"Spread my— No! No way! Keep your cooties to yourself!"

"Nooooo! Spread cooties with me!"

Grinning from ear to ear, Mimi stopped behind the two strangers attired in civilian attire yet wearing medical masks and gloves. Both were men. Although she couldn't accurately guess their age from their appearances—both lacked wrinkles, weathering and their black hair lacked graying and signs of balding—she could tell the learning assistant from the teaching healer. Presently they were cleaning Manzo's wound, a deep cut slashed horizontally over the width of his chest.

The bartender lifted his head slightly at the sight of her, offering a weary smile. She noticed a glass of what appeared to be whiskey, nearly empty. By the smell on his breath she could guess where it all went.

"Guess you were right. They really do find you," she said.

"Fortunately. Daisuke and the children…"

"They're safe with us. Don't worry."

"That's a relief."

He laid his head back down and exhaled a shallow breath. Mimi noticed him wince, breath catching.

His ribs were damaged when those pincer blades hit him, the medic-nin analyzed. And that laceration is deep. He's lucky. Real lucky. Had his ribs punctured a lung, or had those blades severed an artery or hit his heart, none of us may have arrived in time.

"When you finish cleaning the wound," she began, "I'll take over. I'm a medical ninja. I can heal his wounds. It's what I'm here for."

"Mm. Medical Ninjutsu is a talent in short supply in this Nation," said the doctor. "I appreciate any help I can get. Do you have a name, Medical Ninja?"

"Mimi Inuzuka."

"A pleasure, despite the circumstances. I am Isao. My assistant is Ezume."

"Greetings," Ezume dipped his head once.

She nodded in return, then waited patiently for them to finish. Hydra was chasing Biscuit, causing no shortage of giggles and squeals from the children.

Must've been easy for these two to hear about the fight, she thought. We caused a commotion with those four scumbag bandits first, which would've gotten the people around this side of the outpost talking. After that, the brawl in the street against those two Fūma shinobi was loud and violent. Someone easily could've witnessed it, spreading further gossip around the outpost. All these two had to do was follow the trail of violence.

Violence she had led straight to Manzo and these kids.

Mimi watched as Hydra finally caught Biscuit, latching onto his back like a koala. She snorted as the girl pretended to pucker her lips while threatening to 'spread cooties' to the horror and despair of Biscuit.

Before he could die via infection of cooties, Hydra began to laugh, leaping off his back. She skipped off with a sadistic grin. Biscuit exhaled a deep sigh of relief.

Despite giving the others hell for moping and talking about what they accomplished, the sight of the children playing didn't alleviate the guilt she felt.

It was her decision to investigate the outpost, her goal to locate children or homeless to direct them towards their objective. Rather than wait for Master Jiraiya, she pushed on ahead, putting civilians in the line of fire because of her impatience.

It wasn't her or her team that nearly paid the price for it. It was Manzo, Emi, Scotch, Biscuit and Daisuke, innocent people just trying to live a normal and peaceful life.

I should've left them alone after we stopped those four bandits.

Unfortunately, it was too late to change it now. All she could do was try to heal the wounds, clean up the mess and learn from her mistake. For now that started with Manzo. Later, when she was finished healing him, she would remain behind to clean up the glass from the shattered window and stand guard over the children through the night.

She had made the mistake of leaving them alone once before. She wouldn't make it twice.

Daisuke sat upon the cold earth within the halo of light cast by the campfire. The crackle of dry twigs and branches was a familiar friend. He remembered nights like these, sitting beneath twilight with the Clan, on a mission, or before a hopeless battle. He remembered the camaraderie, the gentle caresses… The anxiety building in the pit of his stomach.

Wrapped in a heavy blanket given to him by Mimi, he watched the flames lick the air. He watched their shadows bend and flicker over the ground in the moonlit grove, glow against the skin of his companions. He flattened his lips when a waft of heat was swept away by the bitter chill.

Yeah. He remembered cold nights like this. He hadn't missed them.

Adjacent to him and the campfire was a shinobi tent fit for a maximum of four people, utilitarian by all descriptions and designed for harsh weather conditions. Presently, no shinobi occupied it. The warm sanctuary was utilized by Scotch and Emi, the latter who's meek coughs could be heard now and then.

Seated outside of the tent, wrapped in a blanket of her own, was Mimi. Her eyes were shut and her legs crossed, resting after a long healing session with Emi. Aoko was bundled in a smaller blanket, the tip of her black snout all that was visible of her from the Inuzuka's lap.

Meanwhile, Master Jiraiya had disappeared somewhere to gather information. Daisuke assumed the legendary shinobi known far and wide across the shinobi world was interrogating the three Sound shinobi he had captured from the last battle, or maybe scouting the enemy hideout to plan the morning assault.

He hadn't said exactly what he would do, nor had Daisuke asked; he hadn't wanted to be a nuisance by prying into such an esteemed shinobi's business.

Elsewhere Naruto and Sakura were patrolling their camp, joined by Sasame wearing her blanket like a cloak.

Sasame… You haven't grown much since I last saw you.

She was still petite and small, shorter than Naruto—who was exceptionally small for a boy his age. But although she hadn't seemed to age or change in the last few years, that wasn't entirely for the worst.

That innocent look in your eyes hasn't changed.

They were as earnest as he remembered them. Earnest and innocent, but ultimately shy and meek.

Good, he thought, nodding slightly to himself. You haven't had to witness the same hells we did. Hanzaki hasn't led the children completely astray. That's something, at least.

Naruto and Sakura, he noticed, treated Sasame like a friend they'd known for years rather than a few hours. They were welcoming and kind and open with their camaraderie, they made Sasame giggle genuinely, treating her as a friend and equal. Unlike the Fūma Clan.

Back then, Daisuke recalled, as our numbers dwindled and our Clans status weakened, only the young shinobi that showed talent and promise—like Kamikiri, Jigumo, Kagerō and Arashi—were treated well. They were the golden children. Our chance at rebuilding our reputation and Clan. The rest? Kids like Sasame who struggled to keep up, who didn't show natural talent, who worked hard but didn't meet those impossible standards, were outcasts.

Sasame was lucky to have a loving cousin like Arashi. He'd seen families within the Clan ridicule and all but disown each other. The drive to rebuild their Clan, it became a vile poison seeping into every little aspect of their lives.

Revive the Clan. Revive the Clan. Revive the Clan. It was all anyone ever thought about, all they talked about.

They became consumed by it.

The Leaf shinobi didn't act the way he expected them to. Maybe it was because they were kids. Or maybe it was because of old traditions and experiences his expectations and views of shinobi from major Villages were warped.

As a member of a small Clan from a small Nation, any shinobi from a major Village or Clan on a mission within their Nation was perceived as an insult; it meant the Feudal Lord didn't believe they were capable or competent enough to complete the mission. And when a major Village took potential missions from small Clans, and even small shinobi Villages, they were essentially taking money and food from their pots.

Among small Clans and small Villages, bearing animosity for the major Villages was an established tradition. Likewise, he'd seen shinobi from major Clans and Villages sneer down at small Clans, as if questioning where they had the gall to call themselves shinobi.

To see acceptance instead of animosity, Daisuke couldn't help be bewildered by the strangeness of it all. Yet he was pleased.

"Maybe this new generation will be different than us," he murmured, glancing to his gauntlet, chain and kunai set on a small cloth within reaching distance.

It bore an invisible weight of memories with it. Memories only he could see, and feel, when he wore it. The blade was clean, sharp, the chain and mechanisms in perfect order, just as he left it.

Yet to his mind the weapon was like his body—full of chinks, chips, rendered dull and rugged. And stained with blood.

"You don't need to worry about that." The voice of Master Jiraiya startled Daisuke.

Whirling his head around, he found the legendary shinobi leaning against a nearby tree trunk, eyes looking out towards the patrolling Genin and Sasame, a small, warm smile on his lips.

"Master Jiraiya?"

"Sorry if I startled you. I didn't mean to eavesdrop, either. But, well, heh heh," he chuckled without a care in the world, "it's a habit, let's say."

"It's no bother. I didn't hear you approach."

Mimi and Aoko did not visibly stir. He sensed they were listening all the same.

"As I was saying, though, each new generation to bloom is different from the last," he continued. "It's the destiny of the new generations to surpass the generations that come before them, just as the generations that come after will go on to surpass them. Our glorious duty as their teachers is to nurture their growth and guide them. This way they may learn from our mistakes."

Daisuke blinked. "That's…surprisingly optimistic and idealistic for a shinobi who has been around as long as you," he said bluntly.

"Around as…long as me?" Jiraiya gaped. "What's that supposed to mean, huh?! Is it because my hair is white? I'll have you know its been this color since I was a boy! And look at this face. Hardly a wrinkle on it! This gorgeous face has barely aged a day!"

Panicked, Daisuke grimaced and immediately tried to correct his mistake, like a small fish trying to swim upstream.

"Uhhh, I mean, well…"

It wasn't like the man was young. He'd seen more winters than most shinobi were fortunate to live through. Daisuke grimaced internally at the traitorous thought.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to insult you! It's just that…well, you've been around a long time. Far longer than any shinobi I've ever met personally. You're practically…" Don't say ancient. Don't say ancient. Don't say ancient. "A…legend?"

He heard Mimi snort. Aoko, too.

"A legend, huh?" Jiraiya brought his hand to his chin and grinned. "Why yes, yes I am. This handsome face is known throughout the whole shinobi world. The ladies go weak in the knees when they see it, certain they've been gifted by a sight chiseled by the heavens. I can't blame you for noticing that, ha ha ha!"

Daisuke was too relieved to have calmed the legendary shinobi to be baffled by his vanity.

"Anyway, that's enough about me." Master Jiraiya moved off the tree to sit beside the young man. "I'm more curious about you. Daisuke, right?"

"Yes sir."

"From what I can gather, you used to be a member of the Fūma Clan, is that right?"

"Yes."

"Hm. What drove you away? A disagreement with Hanzaki?"

"In a few words, yes," he nodded solemnly. "It's not something I like to talk about. I've tried to put it all behind me. Abandon it, in a way. But if it's important for you to to hear it, I'll tell you."

"Please."

"Hanzaki and I, we fought through the hopeless wars together. Not always side by side, of course, but… There were less than a handful of battlefields where we weren't both fighting. We saw every excruciating part of those wars. God," he exhaled a shuddering breath. "I wish I could forget it all."

Jiraiya said nothing, but it wasn't out of cruelty. He empathized. He'd seen the same carnage on a grander scale. Because of that he knew, just as Daisuke knew, there was nothing he could say to alleviate the terrible dread and anxiety the memories caused.

He wished he could forget it. But he couldn't. He could only live with it, and hope time one day made it…fade away.

"When it was all over," Daisuke continued after a long moment, "when our Clan was left in shambles, that's when we began to quarrel. He's a stubborn man. And I… I was full of grief, and anger. He was, too. I just couldn't see it.

"Our disagreements stemmed from the direction of the Clan, but it came to involve a great many other things."

Daisuke explained in detail the events to lead up to his mutual departure from his Clan. The hopeless wars, the loss, the banditry, Orochimaru's offer and further splitting of the Fūma. Though time had passed, the memories of the heated arguments with Hanzaki stirred the same raw emotions in his heart and gut.

"It wasn't just one fight," Daisuke explained. "It built up over time, growing worse and worse with each new argument. I tried to understand his point; I could see how we were struggling. It wasn't like I wanted our Clan to fall apart. It was my home, my family… But to become common bandits? Thugs? It was dishonorable. It spat on the sacrifices our loved ones made in those pointless wars.

"I told him people would get hurt. Innocent people. I never felt like he was listening. So when someone did get hurt, I didn't stay quiet. I exploded. I dragged our fight in front of the entire Clan and said everything I felt. Everything.

"All of my anger, my grief, my anguish, I laid it all out. I didn't hold back. Neither did he. We shouted until we were red in the face. When he shoved me and accused me of cowardice, of weakness to see our Clan return to its original strength, I struck him with all of my emotion.

"So there we were, two grown adults, two trained killers rolling around in the dirt punching, kneeing, kicking and shouting at each other like kids in front of all of our Clansmen. In front of kids younger than Sasame.

"I foolishly let myself hope that the others would listen to me if I could defeat Hanzaki. It was a stupid idea. Hanzaki was bigger, stronger, quicker. I wasn't. After he defeated me, we spared a few more heated words with each other. Then we agreed I needed to leave and never return. Back at his tavern, that was the first time I had seen him or any of my former Clansmen since that day."

The story had taken time. Mimi had risen and disappeared into the tent to check on Emi while he spoke; she hadn't returned yet.

In contrast, Scotch had decided to come out, comically wrapped up inside Mimi's blanket, dwarfing the small child and trailing behind her like the train of a ceremonial gown. She walked the long way around the fire, keeping her distance, then settled down beside Daisuke, nestling into his side. He opened up his blanket and wrapped an arm around her, further burying her beneath his blanket.

Sakura, Naruto and Sasame had returned with more wood for the fire. They sat close together around the fire, sometimes speaking quietly to one another about one thing or another, other times listening to him recount his history.

Sasame in particular had moments of recollection. Her innocent eyes would widen, then understanding would flash alongside the reflection of flames.

Finally she understood what had happened. Like an adult finally learning the reason why their parents fought and separated when they were a child, all of the pieces fell into place, forming the reasons they'd always sought. And it was something so simple and yet so big she hadn't been able to understand it in the moment. Not when she was kept out of the loop.

Daisuke felt a hint of guilt seeing it. For him, he'd seen his stand against Hanzaki as righteous, his screams and even his fists as deliverers of justice and honor. For Sasame and kids like her… It was a terrible fight between people who weren't meant to be fighting.

For them, it was a traumatizing event he couldn't take back.

Despite all he had said, Master Jiraiya didn't look at him with judgement. He didn't sneer down at him for what Hanzaki had called naïve behavior and cowardice. He stared at the fire, a thoughtful expression on his face.

"You were all dealt a bad hand," the legendary shinobi said after a long moment. "But you've made something good out of it. Helping these children, protecting them, providing for them, that's nothing to be ashamed of."

"Thank you, Master Jiraiya."

"Before, you called me an optimist and idealist. It isn't because of my age you were surprised, but the devastation of the wars I've lived through. Because you yourself have witnessed the same devastation, violence and cruelty it brings."

It was a statement rather than a question. Still, Daisuke nodded.

"Our wars were smaller when compared to the Great Ninja Wars," he replied softly.

"War is war, no matter the size," said Jiraiya.

Again he nodded solemnly. "I saw…so much death. My Clansmen, the Feudal Lord's enemies… My mother, my brother, the girl I loved… Those battlefields haunt my dreams to this day. Sometimes I can hear it again, feel it in my bones and muscles." His voice began to tremble slightly. "I can see all the blood, the dead bodies and weapons lying over the battlefield. The smoke blanketing the sky, the stench of death. I can see my first kills. I can see their faces, I can still recall them dying in vivid detail.

"They become faceless eventually. Faceless and nameless," he said. "And I wonder who they were. Who they might've been. If we had anything in common. But I'll never know."

Daisuke glanced to his gauntlet and blade. The campfire made it glow and shimmer. And in its reflection he could see the chinks, the blood, and the faces of those he had slain.

His eyes fell away.

"They're dead, and I survived. Somehow. So I'll wonder, I'll dream of a different life where we could've just thrown down our weapons and shared a drink instead."

Sakura, Sasame and Naruto sat so silently, listening entirely to him recount the horrors of war—he almost forgot they were there. He felt Scotch's small arms wrap around his midsection.

Jiraiya listened as a man who understood his feelings, he felt. And though he couldn't see Mimi inside the tent, he knew she was listening, and knew she, too, understood.

It was in her eyes. She'd seen it, too. The same hell. Unlike him, though, she kept moving forward through it.

She was stronger than he was.

"My scarred body is a record of all that I had…and all that I lost," Daisuke continued in a soft voice that was almost a whisper. "Biscuit, Scotch, Manzo and all the children, they made it better. Made me better. They helped me repair the broken pieces of myself and gave me a life worth living. But when I think about the world outside of our bubble, I just remember the pointless wars."

He looked to Master Jiraiya. "That's why I was surprised by what you said. You've seen worse than I have, but you press on, optimistic about what the future will bring. I envy that."

"The misery of war is unique," the Sannin said lowly. "It's far-reaching. It effects everyone caught in it to some degree, in little and major ways. And it doesn't end when the war is officially called to a close. No, it lingers on. The trauma, the sorrow, the hatred, it burrows deeply into those personally effected by it.

"Honestly, there isn't a comparison I can draw, not one someone who hasn't witnessed it firsthand would understand. To an innocent farmer who has only known the struggle of tending to their crops, or a child who has only ever known peace, the violence and death is incomprehensible.

"But I have seen it in intimate detail time and again through the years," he said, staring through narrowed eyes at the fire. "I have seen the misery war causes orphaned children in a war-torn Nation. I've seen the misery it inflicts on the civilian population. War has broken the hearts of my closest comrades; it stole their loved ones mercilessly, callously, and there was nothing I could do to help them, nothing I could say that would bring back what they lost.

"There's nothing worse than watching those you love suffer. It's a pain I wouldn't wish upon anyone." He lifted his palms up and looked down at them. "You can wield the power to fight, kill and protect, but you never realize how truly powerless you are until people you cherish are left sobbing over their loved ones, or are slain while you aren't around to help.

"However," he continued, lowering his hands, "a true shinobi is one who endures no matter what is thrown their way. I will never relinquish my hope that one day people will truly understand each other. I truly believe there will be a day when your dream of people sharing a drink rather than shedding blood will come."

"What gives you that hope?"

"People, of course," Jiraiya smiled. "It's true I have seen war and bloodshed. But for all of cruelty and violence I have witnessed, there were just as many acts of kindness, generosity and compassion. Ordinary folk going out of their way to help others, shinobi sacrificing their lives to protect those precious to them and the future; selfless deeds small and large only reinforce my faith in the future.

"Meeting people like you gives me hope, too," he added.

"People like me?" Daisuke couldn't have been more confused.

"You're the kind of man who does his best for others. Knowing there are people like you out in the world inspires me to keep searching for the answer to lasting peace."

Humbled, Daisuke sat silently. He pondered the legendary shinobi's words until he turned in for the night.

Thin ribbons of fog drifted insidiously over the land, over the displaced chunks of stone and earth, curling around the thick base and barren branches of the death tree decorated by dozens of mangled and unidentifiable corpses. Bisected and amputated bodies hung helplessly, impaled by the blade-like branches that twisted and coiled around themselves like snakes.

She was there again. Standing in awe, frozen by the revulsion and sick feeling swirling in her stomach at the grisly scene of death before her. She could see the grotesque organs draped over the branches like wet towels hung out to dry. See the leftovers the scavengers left behind splattered over the grass.

A headless body suspended high in the air. Bodies twisted and tangled up like marionettes.

The choir of crows cawed ominously. The bodies began to move. To struggle. Groaning and moaning as they tried to pull themselves free, hands reaching out and dead eyes staring at her. Asking, pleading for help with words they couldn't form.

Then the earth beneath her caved in, crumbling and plunging her deep into the depths. She grabbed uselessly at the air, crying out in shock at sudden absence of earth. But the fall quickly ended, her back crashing against solid wood. And as she lifted her head she recoiled and inhaled sharply, eyes wide as she came face to face with a corpse cocooned and impaled by the tree. The branch sticking out of their mouth didn't stop them from groaning and moaning.

Scrambling to her feet, she whirled around to run away, but was stopped by a heavy steel door. She barged her shoulder into it, uselessly. Tried to pull it open. It refused to budge. The impaled body groaned lowly behind her.

She leaned her back against the door, and the earth began to shake again. From the window a small arm reached out abruptly, wrist adorned with a small bracelet with amber gems. The girl inside cried and screamed, reaching out for help.

Startled, she stumbled away from the door. Then quickly returned as she tried desperately to pull it open, calling out to the girl to hold on.

The ceiling shattered. And as she held onto the bars of the window trying to pull it open, growling and cursing and yelling, she could only watch the nameless and faceless child be buried in the rubble.

And then the ceiling collapsed on her, too.

Mimi awoke not with a scream or a gasp or a cry. Despite her heart hammering in her chest, her eyes opened slowly to the twilight covered camp and the smell of smoldering embers. She inhaled a long and controlled breath, then exhaled with a shudder.

Buried beneath a heavy blanket, seated beside the tent, the Inuzuka reached her hand into her flak jacket pocket and clutched the bracelet. Aoko stirred in her lap.

"Are you okay?" her companion rumbled quietly.

For a long while she said nothing. She stared into the darkness, feeling the bitter cold on her face. Naruto, Sakura and Daisuke slept soundly around the camp while Scotch, Emi and Sasame slept inside the tent. Jiraiya was nowhere to be seen, but she wasn't surprised; it was his rotation for sentry duty.

"Just a nightmare," she murmured after a while.

Yeah. That's all it was.

Just a nightmare.

They awoke at sunrise to review their plan to infiltrate the Sound Village and eliminate their targets.

Gathered around the smoldering remains of their campfire, eating their military ration bars for breakfast, Jiraiya went over the information he had gathered. Daisuke and Sasame sat with them.

"All right, listen up. Soon we will set off to infiltrate the Sound Village. Before we do, there are a few things we need to go over. First, I want you kids to understand that the enemy will be waiting for us. They know we're coming. Infiltrating one of Orochimaru's dens would've been dangerous even with the element of surprise; it will be considerably more difficult now that they've had the chance to prepare traps to bolster their advantage.

"Consider the damage you caused the enemy with less time to prepare," he implored. "These shinobi will know their territory well. Keep that in mind as you move. Stay alert at all times. We'll be in constant danger from this point on, do you understand?"

The young group of Leaf shinobi nodded.

"Yeah. We hear ya," Mimi said. "No different than fighting in the Invasion. Lowering our guard for a moment would've meant certain death. Same applies here."

"Exactly, Mimi."

"So, what's the plan, Pervy Sage? Did those guys you captured have any information we could use?"

"That's the second thing I wanted to go over. We now have the location of the Sound Village. As I expected, Orochimaru's 'Village' is an underground hideout located in the shadows of a forest not far from our current location. According to those men, it's a vast compound—a complex maze, even, with no shortage of potential for hidden rooms and traps. Caution will be paramount when we finally reach it.

"I couldn't get a straight answer from those men on whether Orochimaru was around. One claimed he'd seen him. Another claimed he left. The third didn't have the slightest clue where he was. Either way, as I said before, you kids don't need to concern yourself with fighting that rogue. Leave him to me."

"Still," Sakura spoke up, "once the battle begins there will be no telling where or when or if Orochimaru will show his face. We'll need to be careful. I doubt he'll give us the same courtesy of sparing our lives a second time like he did in the Forest of Death."

"Yeah," Naruto agreed softly. "Back when we were searching for Granny Tsunade, I ended up fighting with Kabuto. Blasted him with my Rasengan, but he would've killed me if it wasn't for Granny, and I doubt Orochimaru would've been all that broken up about it." He narrowed his eyes at the smoldering ashes. "That slithering snake only has his eyes on Sasuke and Amari now. He'll do anything he can to get them to run straight into his hands so he can steal their bodies and get his slimy hands on their kekkei genkais."

"You're both right," Jiraiya agreed. "But when or if Orochimaru shows his face I will be at your sides to protect you. You can count on that."

"Will leave him to you," said Mimi. "Much as I would love to personally exact revenge on the bastard for everything he's done, I'm not arrogant or stupid enough to believe I can fight someone who can hold his own against the Third Hokage at my current level. But that leaves Kasai and Kabuto. Did those guys know anything about them?"

"I received mixed responses on Kabuto. According to those men, ever since Orochimaru switched bodies Kabuto has returned to his old tricks of gathering information for his master, spying, looking for new test subjects, running experiments on them and other strange hobbies. He comes and goes as he pleases. Apparently he spent a lot of time at a secret facility here in the Land of Rice Paddies before some incident destroyed it. Now it's just a graveyard, or so they say."

Mimi stiffened. "I've seen a facility like that, Master Jiraiya."

The Toad Sage furrowed his brow. "What did you see?"

"Kasai was the one to wreck it. He sprouted a giant tree and killed everyone inside with it. There are corpses and internal organs still hanging from the trees. Mutilated. Picked at by scavengers. Beyond that, I couldn't see much. The tree caved in halls, barricaded them behind walls of roots and branches; I couldn't explore far. The corpses all wore matching prisoner uniforms, their cells were destroyed by that Wood Jutsu… That's about all I know. I can show you where it is later so someone from the Intel or Anbu units can investigate it."

Jiraiya nodded once, confirming the plan.

"On the subject of Kasai, he was the only one I could confirm the whereabouts of." The Toad Sage looked at them seriously. "He's here."

The news caused a variety of reactions. Naruto's lip curled in a snarl, eyes flashing with anger. Sakura remained composed, expression determined. In contrast, Mimi dipped her head in a short nod while Aoko growled lowly.

"Good," she said. "I look forward to sending him straight to hell." Eyes flitting over to comrades, she continued, "Once we do find him, don't waste time on engaging him in verbal jousting. Bastard isn't worth our words. He relishes pushing our buttons, so don't give him the opportunity or the satisfaction of it."

"I'll be ready, don't worry about that," Naruto replied. "He won't get away this time."

"No, he won't," Sakura agreed. "But that doesn't mean we can be reckless. If we end up fighting him inside of Orochimaru's compound instead of outside, it'll be an even tougher fight because we'll have limited space to outmaneuver his Wood Style. I feel the same way you do, Naruto. But we can't underestimate him. He held his own against Amari and Atsuko, and in the end he forced her to rely on her last resort to end the battle in a stalemate.

"He may still be injured. But if he can still pull off a Wood Jutsu like the one Mimi saw then we can't rush in with our emotion. By fighting smartly and fighting together we can eliminate him. That's the only way."

'I know, I know. I won't underestimate him. Even without his Wood Style he's tough. He already has the ability to use Fire, Water and Earth ninjutsu separately, and he knew how to push my buttons last time. This time… This time will be different."

"What's the estimation on the enemy's numbers?" Mimi asked to Jiraiya.

"No more than a few dozen."

"Mm. Smaller than I expected, but I suppose it makes sense."

"How do you figure?" Naruto asked.

The Inuzuka crossed her arms. "In the Invasion, the Sound shinobi had the most numbers; they bolstered the enemy forces with sheer volume of people while the Sand shinobi stood as the muscle. But I saw a lot of dead Sound shinobi on the frontlines during the evacuation, a lot more than the Sand and Leaf casualties. That was only the beginning, though.

"From what I heard from Aunty Tsume and Hana that the Sound shinobi's forces were decimated in the counterattack. According to the reports they had seen the Sound Village suffered the greatest casualties of all three forces.

"Yesterday we dealt another serious blow to their dwindling forces. And considering Orochimaru spent the time since his failed Invasion to three weeks ago suffering and weakened by Lord Third, to the point of seeking out Lady Tsunade for aid, I doubt he's spent time rebuilding his forces. Hell, he may have lost interest in the idea of the Sound Village for all we know. Seems fickle enough."

"It's true," Jiraiya said. "He's had bigger concerns than rebuilding his forces. That works to our advantage. However, our enemy knows we're coming and they have gleaned information on all of your abilities to some degree. To successfully complete our mission we must proceed carefully."

"Is there anything I can do to help?" Daisuke asked.

"I want to help, too," Sasame followed.

"I appreciate both of your eagerness to help our mission, but I'd ask you both to return to the outpost," the Toad Sage said.

"But I can—"

"Sasame," Jiraiya interrupted, "I understand that you seek to find your cousin Arashi. For your sake we will search for him as well, and should we find him we will do everything within our power to rescue him from Orochimaru's grasps. But I cannot in good conscious bring you into the danger we face.

"You are young, inexperienced. And make no mistake, this mission we're undertaking will place all of us," he gestured to himself, then his young subordinates, "in grave danger. It will also pit us against members of the Fūma Clan—those you may have once called friend or aspired to be like. Asking you to raise a blade against your own Clansmen would only be cruel.

"I also promised Hanzaki to send you straight to him should I find you. If I brought you along and put you in danger, I would be breaking my word. That would go against my principals, so please, do not argue. Trust in us to bring Arashi to you."

Sasame lowered her eyes in sadness. Looking to Daisuke, Jiraiya said,

"Don't concern yourself with your former Clansmen, Daisuke. You have a greater responsibility in your hands now." He gestured to the tent. "Scotch and Emi need you. The children you look after need you. Focus on them. We will take care of your former Clansmen and Orochimaru."

Reluctantly, Daisuke agreed.

With the matter settled, Jiraiya went over the plan and formations with his squad.

Once they finished they set off to complete their mission.

Review Response to Guest: Thank you! I'm happy the shinobi battle and the sort of battle of wits between Mimi's team and Takako was entertaining to read. I've taken to referring to Takako as Takako the Reasonable, for there is always a reasonable conclusion to be found :)

Ah, what a timeless classic Amari has inherited. There is nothing quite like the Uchiha over the shoulder death glare. Or watching and listening to someone tell their sister-in-arms to leave you to die. Takako may be the Reasonable, but she is also one of the unluckiest lucky people to ever exist. She just can't catch a break.

I'm happy you're enjoying the growth of everyone as characters. This arc has really been centered on Mimi and Sakura, mostly, as well as Daisuke and, as this recent chapter has discussed, the suffering war can cause people. It's a lesson for the team, one they're set to experience in the near future against the Sound Village and in the future beyond that. But there will definitely be time for Naruto to shine, and perhaps a few other surprises I don't think anyone will expect along the way.

Hmm, Amari cutting loose in a rage would definitely be an interesting thing to see. I don't think a mixture of Zabuza and Kakashi is far off; there's both the demon and the cold calculation there beneath the surface. Honestly, although at the moment I don't have that kind of moment typed out, I wouldn't say its an impossibility in the future given some of the things I have planned. She may go berserk one day. And, as Mimi said before, there won't be an entity that exists that can stop her from exacting punishment.

Going full steam ahead with the infiltration and battles after this chapter. And after this arc I can confidently say we'll finally see the path Amari and Sasuke intend to embark on for the time between now and Shippuden, though still a bit of ways left between now and that time skip. Honestly, I can hardly wait for it. Happy you enjoyed Sakura using an Earth Style. We'll have to wait and see if Naruto has figured out his Wind Style.

Anyway, thank you for the review and hope you enjoy the newest update!